Sunday, April 23, 2006

If you look at the history of Islam, even the Prophet Muhammad married a businesswoman,' said al-Qasimi, who holds what is regarded as the most important cabinet post in the United Arab Emirates. 'Khadija was her name, she was his boss and she recruited him to work with her,' she smiled, as the likes of Cherie Blair worked the distinctly veil-less crowd.

'The West always looks at the veil as a stigma and I think that's the number one problem,' she added, adjusting her own headscarf. 'They think that if women cover themselves, they cut themselves off from important roles, which isn't correct. In the Emirates, I can tell you, women are on rollerblades. They're moving fast in banking and business.'

Geopolitics:

Women are seen as key to the process. 'When you put women in the limelight it has a tremendous trickledown effect,' says Professor Assia Alaoui, ambassador-at-large to the King of Morocco. 'We all know that we need to reform but unless you change mindsets and society at large, you can't market reforms, you can't sell them to the people - which is why, from a symbolic point of view, women are so important.'

The word you want is not "symbolic." Perhaps what you meant to say is "We all know that we need to reform but unless you change mindsets and society at large, you can't market reforms, you can't sell them to the people - which is why, from a grassroots point of view, women are so important."

Females have been given equal access to education. The girls have embraced the opportunity with gusto as a way of gaining more control over their lives during their youth. They find satisfaction in learning. And upon graduation from high school they want more, and even if there is resistance in the family most young women manage to convince their families to allow them to go to university. One motivator is that being in school can be a way to defer marriage, but it is not the only motivation.

Education is transforming in ways that the student (and parents) cannot always anticipate. If the educated woman elects to stay at home after university the accumulated transformations in her influence the development of her children. And that woman could support herself financially if it is necessary. That option renegotiates the terms of marriage whether her husband likes it or not.

The rollerblades image is perhaps more powerful than intended. It's not just about moving into the world of work. It's about being able to easily glide there if you choose. Options make a difference even if they are not exercised.